Japanese beauty company Kao Corporation has shifted to chemically recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic for its cosmetic bottle containers.
Kao Corporation has a diverse brand portfolio including Bioré, Goldwell, Jergens, John Frieda and Molton Brown.
The sustainable packaging material is being rolled out this month, starting with the Twany cosmetics brand.
The company is also preparing to launch a material recycling initiative to collect used plastic bottles and repurpose them as PET packaging.
The material was developed using innovative ‘Bring Technology’ from chemical recycling company Jeplan. The technology enables Kao Corporation to recycle PET materials with the same purity equivalent as virgin plastic.
According to the company, the move towards sustainable packaging addresses heightened consumer demand for eco-friendly alternatives.
It was rolled out in line with the company’s ‘Kirei Lifestyle Plan’ environmental and ethical sustainability programme. The plan covers 19 different leadership and priority actions, with the move to chemically recycled PET plastics contributing to its Zero Waste pillar.
‘A Kirei Lifestyle’ means “living a beautiful life inside and out” and covers Kao’s environmental sustainably goals (ESG), commitments and actions. The company has committed to empowering 1 billion people to lead more beautiful lives by 2030.
It has also pledged to promote conscious consumerism across 100% of its brands and shift 100% of all products to more sustainable production by the same year.
The strategy was developed in April 2019 and elevates the ESG-driven ‘Yoki-Monozukuri’ (which translates to “good development of products” in English) corporate plan. The plan seeks to use sustainable product innovation and development to benefit the environment and society.
To date, Kao Corporate has made plastic packaging thinner to solve the challenge of plastic waste, promoted the use of refill packaging, shifted to larger containers, increased product concentration and transitioned to thin-film packaging.
In 2018, the company revealed the ‘Philosophy & Action on Plastic Packaging’ pledge. The following year, it announced that it would prioritise innovation in reduction and recycling to achieve plastic circularity.
